Three men suspected to be a part of a huge global smuggling network moving migrants from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) into the UK and Europe have been arrested. A huge operation involving the National Crime Agency, Kurdistan Region Security Council and Kurdistan Region Security Agency led to the men being arrested between Wednesday January 8 and Sunday 12, with NCA officers deploying to the region from the UK to assist.
All three remain in custody, and face prosecution for human trafficking offences by the KRI authorities. The group detained were linked to the same network as Amanj Hassan Zada, a UK-based facilitator convicted and jailed for 17 years in November 2024 following an NCA investigation.
Zada, who lived in Preston at the time of his arrest and was known by those he smuggled as Amanj Zaman, advertised his services on social media, sometimes using videos of those he had successfully smuggled thanking him for his help. One such video showed a group of men on a boat to Italy praising him.
Another video, posted on YouTube and thought to have been recorded in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2021, showed him at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish feting him as “the best smuggler”, saying “all the other smugglers have learned from him”, while he threw cash at them and fired a gun in the air in celebration.
One of those arrested, a 38-year-old male from Sulaymaniyah, is accused of working with the network to co-ordinate the movements of more than a dozen yachts transporting migrants into Greece or Italy. Each boat would contain 60 or 70 people, who would then be moved on to northern Europe or the UK
Three men who are suspected to be part of a huge global smuggling network moving migrants from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) into the UK and Europe have been arrested
(Image: NCA)
A Hawala banker, aged in his 40s and also from Sulaymaniyah, who is accused of processing financial transactions on behalf of Zada, has also been detained along with another man in his 30s from Sulaymaniyah who is accused of being a middle-man gathering migrants for movement by Zada’s network.
The operation is the first time the NCA has worked with Asayish (security) agencies in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah to target high-ranking people smugglers who are risking migrants’ lives in trying to transport them across Europe and into small boats to the UK. Zada himself was jailed in the UK for organising at least three Channel crossings, though investigators believe he was behind the movement of many more, advertising his services on social media and then posting clips of those he had successfully smuggled.
Amanj Hasan Zada
(Image: NCA)
NCA Director General of Operations Rob Jones said: “This is the next significant step in taking on the people smuggling gangs who dominate the deadly cross-Channel small boat trade, many of whom operate from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Previously they thought they were untouchable, but thanks to our co-operation with the KRI authorities, we have demonstrated that this is no longer the case and they will be held to account.
“Our reach is global, and we are determined to target, disrupt and dismantle these networks no matter where they operate.” Branch Commander Martin Clarke was part of the team of NCA officers who flew out to Kurdistan Region of Iraq to assist with the arrest operation.
He said: “The NCA have been able to follow the trail of this network, from Amanj Hasan Zada in his house in Preston right the way back to Sulaymaniyah where we believe this gang were operating and recruiting. We have had fantastic co-operation from Asayish agencies in both Erbil and Sulaymaniyah as part of this investigation, and I’d like to thank them for that.
“Like us they recognise that these gangs are risking the lives of those they transport, feeding them lies via their social media channels, and claiming journeys are one hundred percent safe. More than 70 people lost their lives attempting to cross the Channel in small boats in 2024, so this trade must stop.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The NCA has done outstanding work with this investigation, and the success of this operation will have a material effect on the criminal networks currently trafficking people across Europe. When we said we would dismantle the gangs behind this evil trade, and disrupt their supply chains, this was exactly what we meant.
“Just seven weeks ago, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, I signed the UK’s landmark deal on law enforcement cooperation and border security with Iraq and met with the Kurdish Regional Government, signalling our determination to work together to dismantle the criminal smuggling gangs operating through that region.
“Our security agreement with Iraq is already showing its impact. By sharing the expertise of our Border Security Command, enhancing intelligence-sharing, and providing additional funding to support Iraq’s law enforcement capabilities, we are able to target the people smuggling gangs at source.
“The criminal gangs operating through Iraq and the KRI do not respect borders or jurisdictions, which is why it is imperative that the UK continues to work closely with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional Government to coordinate our enforcement efforts and resources, and cooperate on investigations like this one.”
Tackling organised immigration crime remains a key priority for the NCA, and we are putting more resource into disrupting and dismantling the criminal gangs behind it than ever before. The Agency has around 70 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking, those inflicting the highest harm, and who are the most difficult to reach.
Some of these sit right at the top of the NCA’s priority list. The NCA targets and disrupts organised crime groups at every step of the route, in source countries, in transit countries, near the UK border in France and Belgium, and those operating inside the UK itself.
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